Build Thread Semi budget backyard crawler build

[CharliesTheMan]

My step-dad gave me the day off to get my hobby room cleaned up and organized, and I've been installing some shelves, so I wasn't at work today. But, I got a call from out secretary a little while ago, and I got the CVD's in the mail I believe, unless you shipped me something else that I forgot about.

 

[flm_savage]

Ok i came in early this morning and "finished" the truck. So far i have everything listed above installed and the only think i see i don't like is the drivetrain seems pretty tight. I ran it around and it seemed ok but still alot tighter than i remember my other one being. The anteannae tube is heatshrinked to protect the antennae wire.

I REALIZE I HAVE A BLUE PITMAN ARM, GREEN DRAGLINK AND ORANGE TIEROD. I DO NOT CARE!!!! Just had to get that out. I know its ugly but i am looking for a backyard crawler. Not a scale or comp rig. That is also the reason i mounted my electronics on the top. I am not willing to take a chance on crap getting thrown on my esc to gain to put 6 oz of weight lower on the truck.

I await your constructive criticism and ideas.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

The orange and green doesn't look too bad together. You should have seen my build when I built an entire axial with red aluminum, then realized that those pieces were green on my truck. There's an easy fix though. I deanodized mine and polished them a little, and they look great on there, really sets off the other color. It was REALLY easy to deanno them as well, just PM me or give me a call and I'll tell you how. For the electronics, would they be shielded from stuff being thrown at them better if they were mounted in the same place, only under the battery plate?

 

[robmob]

Looking good.

Did you add any weights to the front and rear wheels?

 

[flm_savage]

maybe once i get the programming done, i can flip the tray and put that stuff on the bottom. it makes it more of a challenge to drive when you keep them up there.

Who wants a comp rig that flows over everything? you gotta have a dookie rig that takes driving skillz.

Looking good.

Did you add any weights to the front and rear wheels?

none yet but i certainly plan on it.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

Who wants a comp rig that flows over everything? you gotta have a dookie rig that takes driving skillz.

none yet but i certainly plan on it.

The problem isn't that your rig is too capable, it's that your crawling on courses that are too easy. I do understand what you're saying, I haven't built a Super because the terrain that we have here just doesn't call for one.

However, I think it would be OK to try and make your rig perform well. It's kind of like saying "It's just not any fun driving your E-Savage with that Novak brushless system, it's too easy to do a wheelie. I'm going to take it out and install a 27 turn stock motor on 4 cell nimh batteries just to make it more of a challenge."

 

[flm_savage]

aww come on now. its a little different. we are talking about moving oz's around. i can't beleive its going to make a phenomenal difference. It will sit on its side on two wheels with no problems right now. I don't even think i would notice a difference honestly. Do you really think it matters all that much? Honestly? I think it would make about as much difference as adding ceramic bearings to the truck.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

aww come on now. its a little different. we are talking about moving oz's around. i can't beleive its going to make a phenomenal difference. It will sit on its side on two wheels with no problems right now. I don't even think i would notice a difference honestly. Do you really think it matters all that much? Honestly? I think it would make about as much difference as adding ceramic bearings to the truck.

Honestly, I think it will make a good sized difference. If you take those electronics off the top, and move them down to the upper links, you will be moving a good bit of weight down sigfigantly lower. I would say it's equivalent to asking if there's a difference between that is kind of like asking if there's a difference between running rock lizards with stock foams an those prolines or rock claws with memory foams. The battery plate is also heavy, and you could remove it or replace it with graphite, and that will assist in you feeling a very noticable difference.

 

[flm_savage]

define good bit of weight. the esc and rx together weigh 1.9oz without wires. i will weigh the plate later today

Also, am i CRAZY?
yes thats a 6000hv lipo. thats a decent chunck of unsprung weight right there.

 

[flm_savage]

still haven't decided on a final resting spot for the electronics. I have decided that i WILL run the goat on this truck. I do think that the mamba and a brushed motor is a better overall setup but this one has plenty of power and i will just deal with the lack of features. Are there any more comments or suggestions?

 

[CharliesTheMan]

when we release our part next week, I would definitely consider it. I designed it so that you could run a stock chassis, stock suspension setup and still have a capable crawler that wouldn't harm itself because of its inherent flaws. Other than that, get some weights on those wheels, more weight in the front, and that's about it.

Oh yea, make sure you have the goat in the second crawler setting. It's throttle and braking curves are smoother and it will help with the rough startup. Other than that, set your drag brake. I assumed that the default drag brake would be decent, and it hurt me in the comp because unless you specifically set the drag brake, it has almost none.

 

[flm_savage]

if i add weight, i think it will be on the top of the axle housing around the c. I'm not sure if i want to add alot of weight to my driveline. seems like it would just be harder on the steering and driveline. I'll mess around with it and see.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

That goat isn't going to bat an eye at the weight, and your servo is pushing 333 oz/in of torque I believe. 200 would be plenty to turn the wheels with the weight added, so you shouldn't have a problem. There are many people running a lot of weight with less of a driveline than you have and not having problems from it. If I were you, I would add stick on weights as close to the center of the wheel as possible, which reduces rotational mass.

 

[flm_savage]

I have been having a blast with it. It kinds stinks crawling on garbage can lids and shoes but its still crawling. I will be picking up the battery at work tommorow so i can get that tossed on the front plate. Wally world should have the stick on weights so i'll grab some of those too. I may slap some old WK springs on the shocks since these stockers are soo soo stiff

 

[CharliesTheMan]

Yeah I like the stockers on the rear and the extra soft up front.

 

[flm_savage]

that sounds like a winner. how much weight are you running.

 

[flm_savage]

ok i moved some stuff around so charlie would be happy. I tried to put it on the upper links first but the shocks would lean on the esc a little and i didn't like that. The maxamps battery is mounted on the front axle now, esc is mounted on a savage crossbrace with novak servo tape, the rx is mounted to one the the top braces with just a pair of ty-wraps. Not sure if it make any diference but it DID get rid of the top plate. SOrry for the crappy pics, i am on vacation all week and left my memory card at work.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

Wow Kurt, it looks great. I'm impressed that you decided to opt out of the "it's ok like this, I'll leave it alone", and go more in the direction of "I'm a custom RC enthusiast with RC hot rodding in my bone marrow, and I fab up what I need to be bad to the bone and sqeeze every nano drop of performance out of this bad beast". Now you can get an iron cross tatoo with flames and rc rock crawling in scroll, and walk around in biker boots and no shirt sleeves with a leather vest, because you're one dude that nobody's going to mess with.

Were you surprised at the size of the battery? I know I sure was.

 

[flm_savage]

HAHA, and all this time just moving my esc down an inch meant the difference between me being a frail, white, pimple faced teenager and the leader of hells angels. WOOT!


I am about to leave and grab some wheel weights to play around with.
That battery is crazy small! I am used to charging 8000hv lipos and when this one was done in 30 minutes i was suprised and excited. I am still waiting on my outdrives but hopefully they get here today or tommorow. I have been crawling on the back patio ledge for a few days now and i think i have mastered the garbage can lid from every direction possible.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

HAHA, and all this time just moving my esc down an inch meant the difference between me being a frail, white, pimple faced teenager and the leader of hells angels. WOOT!


I am about to leave and grab some wheel weights to play around with.
That battery is crazy small! I am used to charging 8000hv lipos and when this one was done in 30 minutes i was suprised and excited. I am still waiting on my outdrives but hopefully they get here today or tommorow. I have been crawling on the back patio ledge for a few days now and i think i have mastered the garbage can lid from every direction possible.

You really need to bring some rocks into your backyard. Also, to test your weight balance and sidehilling, you can lean a piece of plywood or something against the side of the house and keep making it steeper until the rig flls over, and then you can tune and test some more and know if what you're doing is helping or hurting.